"The Remarkable Life of Ibelin" with Benjamin Ree

Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

To his “real” family, Mats Steen was a loving brother and son, rather shy and reserved; to his World of Warcraft family, Mats — known by his avatar Ibelin Redmoore — was bold, outgoing, and something of a ladies’ man. Both families were devastated by Mats’ tragic passing from Duchenne muscular dystrophy when he was only in his mid-20s. In his deeply moving, brilliantly constructed new Netflix documentary “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” director Benjamin Ree (“The Painter and the Thief”, “Magnus”) illuminates all aspects of Mats’ life in a profound way that neither of his families could possibly have imagined.

Benjamin joins Ken on the pod to discuss his own remarkable creative journey as he set out to give full measure to Mats’ story — both in real life and inside the World of Warcraft universe. How did Benjamin animate the 42,000 pages of texts from the game to recreate Ibelin’s adventures and relationships within the World of Warcraft community that he was a part of? In what ways was telling this film comparable to writing a symphony, with its innovative, repetitive structure building over time? And, finally, what has been the startling and legacy of Mat’s life on those who knew him and on the thousands of gamers who never met him? There’s no avatar for that kind of impact.

“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” is streaming on Netflix.

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